I Dream, You Weep, I Scream, You Die
by Martyr of the Black Rose
Summary: Curiosity can be a killer. Especially when it involves the minds of the insane.
1. Prologue

Martyr:  Ah, back to my favorite genre.  This fic was written in honor of my favorite holiday...^.^() although it's already November…better late than never.  

Kuro: Hold on.  Why do you always forget to say we don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, so you don't sue?  *sighs*  Lots of blood and gore in this fic.  Not advised for kiddies or those with weak stomachs.  And shounen-ai later on as well.  On with the fic!    

*+*+*+* = scene change

Ryou stared at the face that so mirrored his own, yet was so incredibly different.  The cold brown eyes that sparkled with insanity were currently hidden behind closed lids.  Bakura's pale chest rose and fell in a continuous motion.  For once, there was a look of lax content upon his features.  Ryou smiled softly and kissed his forehead, making himself comfortable as he lay back down in Bakura's arms.  

Sleep, strange enough, refused to embrace the hikari tonight, even after the rather…wild activities of earlier that night.  

Mph…if I go into my soul room, at least my body can sleep.  God knows it certainly needs it.  

That decided, the Sennen Ring flashed slightly as Ryou's mind entered his soul room, rendering the body unconscious.

*+*+*+*

Off-white walls decorated with various posters were the first thing Ryou saw.  Beneath his socked feet was a plush sapphire blue carpet.  A picture in a black frame hung on the wall behind a large bed with a blue down blanket.  The picture was of all four of them, Ryou's family, the day they went to Disneyland.  It had been taken the day before Ryou's father left for another dig in Egypt…it was also the day before Ryou's sister and mother died.  Ryou looked at it for a moment, then turned away as he felt tears prickle in the corners of his eyes.  He flopped down on the bed.  Apparently after their activities earlier on, Bakura had decided to sleep in his own soul room, something he rarely did.  

Which got Ryou thinking.  

_I never really _have _seen the inside of Bakura's soul room.  He always told me not to…that I was _forbidden _to.  Hm…what can be so bad about it?  I wonder…what's it look like? _

The white-haired hikari sat up and looked around his room again.  There wasn't anything to do in there.  Sure, there were several games and puzzles, Monster World included…but the curiosity was suddenly all too much to ignore.  

Ryou got up and opened his door, looking across the hallway to the metal door that led to his yami's soul room.  He slowly walked towards it, his hand paused over the knob.  

_I can still turn around and forget all about it.  But…he's asleep, isn't he?  I mean, what can be so bad that he doesn't want me in there?  What's he hiding?  It can't be _that _horrible, can it? He's still asleep…I can just take a quick look, get out, and he'll be none the wiser.  _  

Mind made up, he closed his hand around the out of place brass knob.  Taking a deep breath, he turned the handle and walked in.  It was dark inside.  Ryou let his eyes adjust for a few moments, then looked around.  Actually, it wasn't that dark in here.  Just…silent.  Save for the snores signaling that Bakura was still slumbering soundly.  

Ryou could barely make out the twin size bed resting against the wall, the one his yami was occupying.  Bakura was tangled in the black sheets, one leg sticking out amidst the dark cloth, an arm hanging over the side of the bed.  

The room in itself didn't seem so large.  About the size of Ryou's real life bedroom.  And not much in it, for that matter.  The only furniture was the bed itself.  The walls were made of limestone, like the walls of a pyramid.  There was no carpeting, just dirt floor.  The only thing unusual was how dark it was in the room.  

Ryou was just about to turn around and leave when he heard a bloodcurdling scream.  The hikari froze in his steps and looked around frantically fro the screamer.  He saw a thin stream of light seeping through a crack in the wall.  Cautiously, the hikari approached it, to find out it wasn't a wall at all.  It was a door.  Ryou grabbed the handle and sharply turned it as he heard a scream again.  The hikari walked inside, having no idea what he had just walked into.  

Martyr:  This was just the prologue.  The freaky shit starts next chapter.    

Kuro:  *in creepy voice*  Ooooh….what will happen in the next chapter?  Will Ryou be killed?  Will he find out Bakura's dealy secret about the pink bunnies?  Find out in the next installment.  If you dare.  BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!  

Martyr:  O.O Okay, that's it…no more sugar for you.  

Kuro: *cuddles Sab and stick out tongue*  As long as I get to keep Sab, even though I don't even know if Sab is a boy or girl…YOU HAVEN'T TOLD ME YET, K-CHAN!  

Martyr:  Erm…kinda a private joke…thingy…erm…yeah!  . .  REVIEW PLEASE!  

*hides from the wrath of K-chan*

          

  


	2. Trapped Within the Insanity

         +++++  

Ryou was just about to turn around and leave when he heard a bloodcurdling scream.  The hikari froze in his steps and looked around frantically fro the screamer.  He saw a thin stream of light seeping through a crack in the wall.  Cautiously, the hikari approached it, to find out it wasn't a wall at all.  It was a door.  Ryou grabbed the handle and sharply turned it as he heard a scream again.  The hikari walked inside, having no idea what he had just walked into.  

                                                      +++++

Ryou blinked profusely as he entered a brightly lit corridor.  Well, brightly lit compared to the initial soul room, anyways.  There were lit torches every few feet, showing a lighted path all the way down to where the hallway split in two.  The hikari walked cautiously, slowly, his russet orbs wide and alert.  

There were cracks throughout the limestone walls, something that could be seen with less and less difficulty as Ryou continued walking.  It seemed like the hikari wasn't making any progress, as the split was still just as far away as it had been only moments ago.  Ryou paused in his walking, squinting to stare down the tunnel.  Yes…the tunnel _was _getting longer.  

It suddenly stretched in a spurt of speed, so that all that Ryou could see was a small black box where the tunnel split.  

Ryou gasped and turned to go back to the door…only to see a limestone wall.  The door was gone.  He stared at it, as if willing the door to melt through the wall and grant him his exit.  But the wall remained.  

The now frightened hikari banged against the wall, kicking it even, but to no avail.  Either Bakura was a very heavy sleeper, or the wall was quite thick.  Ryou slumped against the wall.  Now he was stuck in his yami's soul room.  

Or not.  

_Wait…can't I just go back to my body?  _

He closed his eyes, willing his soul to join back with his body, expecting to feel the strange feeling of cold fire wash over him.  He opened his eyes and realized he hadn't left.  

            _What the…hell?  _

The teen continued to try for the next twenty minutes…but hadn't returned to his body yet. 

            _What's going on?  Why can't I leave? _

Panic was beginning to sink its claws into his heart.  He couldn't get out of his yami's soul room, for some reason.  He was stuck.  

            Ryou stood up and tried to rouse Bakura again.  Nothing.  He couldn't hear anything, apparently.  And that meant…Ryou was alone.  He'd have to find a way out himself.  

*** 

The tunnel seemed to go on for eternity.  Ryou sighed and continued his trek.  Impatience that was beginning to seep in with the panic caused his feet to move faster, until he was all out running.  And running…and running…and running.  It seemed the tunnel had a mind of its own, and had tired of playing with the teen, as Ryou suddenly ran into a wall.  He fell backwards and landed on his rear end, rubbing his nose.  Groaning, he shook the stars away from his eyes and looked around.  He had two choices…either go left, or right.  

He remembered something his sister had told him once, just a random thing she had said while they were eating dinner.  

_'I heard once, that if given a choice, people almost always go in the direction of the dominant side of their body.'_

Ryou wondered why he had remembered that just now, but shrugged and went in the opposite direction of his writing hand…left.  So he walked again, panting slightly as he tried to catch his breath, his behind and nose still throbbing from the unexpected crash.  

The hikari noticed something odd.  The cracks in the walls were beginning to get bigger.  A small chunk of limestone fell from a corner in one of the blocks, scaring the teen out of his wits.         

_It's all right.  It was just a rock.  Get a grip on yourself, Ryou!  _

***

The tunnel still seemed to stretch on for eternity.  Ryou shivered as a thought came to him.  

_What…what if…what if I keep on walking forever._

Immediately, he scoffed himself. 

_That's ridiculous.  _Nothing _lasts forever.  _

Including happiness.  He of _all _people ought to know that.  The white-haired hikari stopped and retraced his steps, walking backwards until he came to the door he had realized he passed.  

It was an old wooden, the wood warped and moldy.  Ryou raised a slightly trembling hand to grasp the knob tightly, turning it and slowly opening the door.  

And then it was dark again.  Shadows curled and twisted out of the room, licking across the walls and floor, smothering the flaming torches.  Each one went out with a puff of smoke, hissing as its life was ended.  The tendrils moved like vines, snaking their way up the poor hikari's legs to his torso, slowly crawling up to his face.  He gagged as a tendril made it's way into his mouth, curling against his tongue and trying to crawl down his throat.  The scream that was sure to come was silence completely.  

Ryou clawed at his face, choking and gagging.  His foot accidentally caught against the door.  His body was at such an odd angle that it moved and slammed the door shut.  Immediately, the purple darkness melted away.  The torches flickered back to life, lighting the tunnel once more.  

The hikari was panting, swallowing hard as he tried to rid his throat of the cold slimy sensation the darkness had left behind.  He was trembling terribly from the ordeal…his near death experience.  It wasn't as if it had been his first, but…dying in such a way was _definitely _not something on his list of things to do.  Still rubbing his throat, Ryou continued walking, albeit quite unsteadily, as if he were drunk. 

I wish I hadn't come in here…but…maybe there's something here that can help me figure out why Bakura acts the way he does…what brought him to the edge of sanity, and what caused him to tumble down into the insane.  

That thought in mind, he used the wall to steady himself and calm down.  After a few minutes, he straightened and continued on.  

A whistling sound reached his ears.  He looked up at the ceiling and dove out of the way as a spray of arrows showered the ground.  Gulping, he looked at the arrows that were currently occupying the space he had only been a moment before.  

_He _really _doesn't want people in here.  _

Ryou shakily got to his feet, brushing the dirt from his behind, which was still sore from the fall from before.  The recent re-acquaintance with the ground hadn't helped at all.  Not to mention he still had a slight limp from much earlier on.  And it had nothing to do with Ryou's current location.  

_I'll just have to be a bit more careful from now on_.  

Nodding to himself, he started walking again, at a bit of a faster pace than before.  The tunnel turned a corner sharply.  It continued to twist and turn.  Then split off at the end into three separate tunnels.  Ryou chose the center and followed the tunnel as it turned again to a right.  Leading straight into a dead end.  

Well, it might not be a dead end, as there was a door at the end.  

This too, was wooden.  It was quite splintered, dry and rotten.  There was no door handle, Ryou saw.  So the hikari tried to push it open…although it had no affect. 

He gritted his teeth and backed away, then ran forward and threw his shoulder against the door.  Honda would have been proud.  

The door cracked slightly and swung open.  

Ryou walked in, holding his shoulder slightly.  This room was dark as well, but no darkness swooped out to swallow him up.  It instead stayed in the room.  The hikari walked even further in, so that he was almost completely engulfed in the shadows.  The teen's heart leapt into his throat as the door banged shut.  

Eyes wide, trying to see through the darkness, he stopped walking, turning around in a circle as he frantically tried to see his surroundings.  Although it proved to be quite pointless, as the room was pitch black.  Silence rang in his ears.  

Crunch.  

He had _stepped _on something.  Something that seemed to have once been alive, as his sock was now damp.    

Crunch, crunch.  

All right, more than one something.  

_Crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch_.    

Ryou wonder what it was that seemed to be cluttered on the floor, ignoring the fact that his socks were covered in what seemed to be the entrails of bugs.  _A lot _of bugs.  

He stopped moving all together, his stomach turning slightly as he felt the entrails coating the bottom of his feet.  The teens breath hitched in his throat as he heard a growl.  

Actually, several growls.  

The room seemed to come to life as the…_things_…could be heard moving around, scuttling towards Ryou.  Red eyes shone in the darkness, red eyes that were all trained upon the white-haired hikari.  

The scream that erupted from Ryou's throat echoed throughout the room, and down the slowly dimming tunnel.  

His feet seemed to have a mind of their own as he streaked towards the door, trying frantically to get it open.  He was shrieking and pounding against it, calling Bakura's name in his fright.  He was becoming frantic, as the creatures were slowly scuttling closer, growls low and deadly…the warning growl of an attack.  

Ryou screamed again, near tears as he thumped against the door.  Too late…he could feel one of the creatures breath against his knee.  He was backed all the way up, trembling violently, his socks sliding against the hard ground, as they were still sticky with the guts of the bugs. 

Just as Ryou could feel a claw swoop down, the door swung open.  Ryou stumbled out, landing on his back.  His eyes widened in surprise as he recognized the creatures.  

"M- Man Eating Bugs…" he whispered.

A nearby Man Eating Bug hissed, as it was halfway out the door.  The hikari screamed and shoved it back in with his foot, slamming the door shut.  He almost fell against it, moving out of the way as several claws pierced through the door.  It wouldn't hold long, Ryou realized. He got to his feet and took off, ignoring the strange feeling as sand and dirt stuck to the bottoms of his slimy socks.  

The sound of a door splintering and breaking rang in Ryou's ears, causing him to run faster as he realized that the Man Eaters had burst through.  He could only hope he could outrun them, or at least be able to escape into another room.  

Martyr: *grins*  So…how'd you like it? Was it scary enough?  Yeah, I know…not much gore  (poor buggies L) But…don't worry, it should be up in the next chapter.  *grins*  Dontcha just LOVE cliffies?   

Kuro:  How can you be so chipper?  My hearts been broken!  *sobs*  

Martyr: *sighs*  Great…I've got a muse lusting after another muse.  Whelp…I've got to find a way to cure poor Kuro so the ideas keep coming.  Anyone have a gay muse who'd be interested in a freaky, hyperactive, and sometimes disturbing guy muse?  Any takers?  Please, I NEED KURO TO KEEP ON UPDATING!  O.O  Okay….replies to reviews: 

lotus re-incarnate:  *grins*  Yep…Poor Ry' just can't seem to mind his own business.  Believe me, I plan to use it to my advantage as much as possible.  *hands a black rose* Thankies for the praise!  

hyper katana 49737:  ^.^ Me sowwies K-chan!  I didn't make him that way!  It's a chemical imbalance, I swear ta gawd!  I'll try t get him to lay off.  As you've read *points up*  I'm working on it!  *Kuro sneaks away and tackle glomps Sab*  O.O  Ooops…hold on.  *gets hose*  Down boy, DOWN!  BAD KURO!  BAAAAAAD KURO!  


	3. Authoresses' Note

_Ano_…_gomen nasai_ *bows* I apologize for making you guys wait so long but…I'm having some personal problems I need to deal with before I update again.  *bows again*  I'll try to get back to this ASAP, but I'm not making any promises as to when.  


	4. Head of the Almighty God

Martyr:  *bows* _Gomen nasai.  _I can finally get back to this!  *breathless*  Enjoy!  

                                                +++++

The sound of a door splintering and breaking rang in Ryou's ears, causing him to run faster as he realized that the Man Eaters had burst through.  He could only hope he could outrun them, or at least be able to escape into another room.  

                                                +++++

Ryou's heart was pounding against his rib cage as he ran, angry clicks and growls echoing after him.

Oh God, oh God, why did I come in here?  Why? Door…there has GOT to be a door here somewhere. 

            What happened next was quite stupid actually.  The soft-spoken hikari was so stricken he hadn't seen the lead of rope stretched across the walkway.  Of course, being the hikari he was, he tripped over it.  

            "_Oof_." And landed flat on his face.  He scrambled to his feet, just barely avoiding a pair of gnashing claws hooking around his ankle.  

            "N-No!  Get away!  Get away from me!" Ryou screamed, kicking away another Man Eater.  He was backing away, slowly, socked feet sliding occasionally.  His hand brushed against something solid…and round.         

_A knob?_

A Man Eater leapt at him, tackling the teen to the ground.  

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH! NO!  GET-GET OFF, YOU BASTARD!" Ryou kicked and screamed, punching the monster on the side of its head.  Angered, the Man Eater sunk its teeth into his arm.  

"GAAAHHHAAAAHHHAAAAAAAAAAAHHHAAAAAAAAAA!!"  Pain like no other shot up each and every one of his nerves.  It was like someone had set fire to his veins, and it was slowly crawling all over his body, so that his entire being was aching.  A strange pins and needles sensation washed over his arm, the rest of him still burning. 

Blood was spurting from the wound under the Man Eaters teeth.  Ryou finally managed to knock the Man Eater off, and struggled to his feet, a trembling hand wrapping around the knob and jerking it.  

The hikari ducked into the room, slamming the door shut.  Pain engulfed him as he leaned against the wall, panting.  Hot blood continued to trickle out of the wound.  Ryou whimpered and fell to his knees, holding his arm and rocking back and forth, his body burning.  

"Help…someone…please," he whispered, squeezing his eyes shut.          

* * *  (scene change…just in case you forgot)  

Pain.  The kind of pain that meant only one thing.  Bakura's eyes shot open as he sat bolt upright. 

"WHAT THE HELL?"  The former tomb robber tried to scramble out of bed.  The black sheets were tangled around his limbs from sleep, causing him to fall.  

"Ow," Bakura groaned, sitting up, his hand rubbing the back of his head.  He remembered the pain and terror he felt through the link and got to his feet, looking around to make sure no one had witnessed his error.  Opening his soul room door and crossing the hallway, he threw open Ryou's door without knocking to find…nothing.  The hikari wasn't in it.  And the body was unconscious.  

            And that meant only one thing.  Bakura's eye twitched as he stalked back into his own soul room, slamming the door shut.  

He glared at the only other door in the room, which he could see perfectly.

Angrily, the yami threw it open, completely forgetting that he was only dressed in his black pajama bottoms. 

"Ra damn it Ryou…I _told _you not to come in here!" the former tomb robber

growled, stalking down the corridor.  It seemed that the walls were too afraid to play their tricks, as Bakura was at the split in no time.  Another wave of pain washed over him.  

            The former tomb robber grimaced.  

            _"The left…he went left_," the walls whispered.  Without a word, the yami took off down the left corridor.  He knew he couldn't reach Ryou's thoughts and tell him he was coming…one of those stupid things about being in soul rooms.  Apparently, if both sides were in their rooms, there was no need to use mind speech.  Just one of those annoying quirks. 

            _Don't worry Ryou…I'm coming.  _

* * * 

            _THUD.  THUD.  CRACK.  THUD.  _

            Ryou bit his lip.  The Man Eater's were persistent, he'd give them that much.  

            _I can't stay here forever.  I have to move, before those things break the door down.  _  

            Shakily, the hikari got to his feet, right hand clutching his left arm…the arm that Man Eater hat bitten.  Also ironically the one injured during Battle City.  

            Ryou's body was shaking as he made his way across the room, leaning against the wall, panting slightly. 

            "Oh thank God."  There was a door in the corner.  Ryou reached out to grasp the bar to pull it open.  The metal was scalding hot.  The teen yelped and snatched his hand away, skin pink where it had made contact with the metal.  

            _It's the only way out.  I _have_ to.  _

            Bracing himself, Ryou raised his hand again.  He bit his lip and took hold of the handle.  His skin sizzled, the pain mixing in with the tingling twinge left from the Man Eating Bug's bite.  Ryou whimpered and tugged, letting go of the handle as soon as it opened.  

            The room was only lit with five torches, which wasn't much, as the room was immense.  And filled with treasure.  Everything that might have been made in ancient Egypt.  The room seemed to be made of gold and jewels itself, there was so much in it.

            The pain from the burning door handle seemed to have helped his body, as it was no longer tingling from the Man Eater's bite.  He could feel his left arm again, and noticed that the bleeding had stopped completely.  

            The room looked beautiful.  It would have been perfect, if not for the thing in the center of the room.   

            Ryou covered his mouth in horror as his brown eyes took in the lake of blood surrounding a golden stand, crimson rivulets streaming down the sides of the stands itself.  The source for all the blood was displayed upon the stand, like a grotesque trophy.    

A head. 

_Yami's _head.  The unmistakable plume of red, black, and blonde hair was the only thing that distinguished whose it was, as the head itself was rotting away slowly.  Chunks of flesh lay on the stand.  The flesh on the left cheekbone, part of the chin, part of the forehead, and even some of the cartilage of the nose had rotted away to reveal white bone.  

Maggots crawled around the face.  The squirming, white bodies glistening in mucus brushed against one another, slowly eating away the flesh.  Several disappeared into the nose.  An eyeball was hanging out of the right eye socket, clinging to it by a few threads of muscle and tissue, the crimson iris barely visible under a grayish cataract.  The left eye was covered in a film of blood, the eyeball itself bloated slightly.  It looked like it might burst any moment.  

Morbid fascination held Ryou in his spot near the door, although his stomach churned in disgust.  

_Yami's head.  Wh-why?! _

"God help me," Ryou whispered, managing to tear his eyes away, instead scanning the wall for a way out.  And there it was, right next to Yami's head.  How it was possible for a door to be in the middle of the room, the hikari knew not.  

Ryou gulped, forcing his stomach to settle.  Weak-kneed he approached.  

"It's just a h-h-head, Ryou.  Just ignore it and get out of here," he told himself.  He was almost there.  His fingers just brushed the knob…when the head turned to stare at him.  

            "Be careful, Ryou.  You don't know what else may be in here," the head said, it's jaw moving up and down as it spoke, jostling a few maggots, causing them to fall out of his mouth.  Russet eyes widened.  

            Something was moving on his arm.  Ryou looked down to see a humongous maggot crawling up it, leaving a trail of blood behind.  It squirmed.  

            "GAH!" The teen shook his arm in disgust, dislodging the creature.  Only to see his skin rotting under the trail of blood.  More little maggots poked out through the skin, wiggling in the air.  Their small bodies glistening with blood.  _His _blood.  Ryou screamed and clawed at his arm, ripping the maggots out of his skin.  They landing with small _plops _into the lake of blood.  

            He clapped a hand over his mouth, thrusting the door open and running inside, slamming it shut behind him.  

            The hikari bent over and vomited, his body shaking violently.  Once he had emptied his stomach, Ryou straightened.  He examined his trembling right arm.  It wasn't rotting.  The flesh had reappeared, as if maggots had never burst out of it.  

            A cool breeze brushed against the hikari's face.  He looked up, startled as he viewed his surroundings.  

            Ryou was standing on a sand hill, overlooking a small village.  

            "…Egypt?!"  

Martyr: And that…is where I will end the chapter.  Thank you all so much for waiting so long.  I'm sorry to have made you all wait…I didn't do it on purpose, I swear.  It's just…what with certain circumstances…*sighs*  I REALLY hate life.  Anyways…I promise the wait for the next chapter will be a helluva lot less than this one was.  And you'll see why one of the genres is angst in the next chapter.  ^.^ Make sure to put those puke buckets away and have tissues ready for the next one.  Ah, and I apologize if the descriptions made anyone nauseous…I myself started feeling a bit queasy when I read it over a bit.  Ah, yes, replies to reviews: 

hyper katana 49737: Ne, to lazy to log in, K-chan?  ^.^ Sheesh…now I KNOW I haven't updated in a while.  Shit, you wrote this before the dance.  Oh and *smacks you*  No need to gloat, Missy.  It's not OUR faults we're not so smart as to go to high school for some classes.  -.- 

Evil Talking Dog:  Haha…another lazy one.  Tsk, tsk.  Lol, I'm lazy too.  Yep, Bakura sleeps like a log.  Or maybe he was too into the wet dreams about Ryou  O.O  lol.  

Death T-2: O.O  YOU TOO?  I _know _I _hate _slimy socks.  ^.^ Thank you.  I'm glad you liked it.  ^_________^  

lotus re-incarnate:  Ah, thank you for understanding.  Yes, it is better to get the personal problems done first, and thanks for the support.  I'm not one to hold my own life above obligations like updating a fic…usually.  Because ya see…^.^() I _have _no life, really.  And thank you for the compliment.  ^.^ I'm happy so many people think so highly of my work.  

SecretSoul:  Ah, you too.  *bows* I'm glad I have such supportive reviwers.  ^____^ And such complimentary ones too.  *blush*  Sheesh…so many compliments…at this rate, I'm going to start getting cocky when I try to get my first book publish and expect to have the first book company I go to publish it.  

crystal crittenden:  *bows again*  Thank you so much.  *points*  See, look? I updated!  

Martyr:  O.O  Wow….you guys…*teary eyes*  Thank you all for the compliments.  O.O  Wow……I've never gotten a single flame for any of my fics.  O.O  Wow…..  . Again.  *huggles all reviewers*  ARIGATO GOZAIMAS, MINNA-SAN!   And don't worry, I'll update soon.  Promise!  ^.~    Ah, and if you're reading this, be a dearie and review. Pwease?!         

    


	5. Keru Eruna: Tragedy and the Birth of Ins...

Martyr:  Ah hah!  And you all thought I forgot!  Well, I _didn't! _  Kuro just decided to go on vacation to Tahiti at a very_ VERY _inopportune time.  

Kuro:  Hey, muses need breaks too!  And I didn't go to Tahiti!  I went to _Japan!  _ 

Martyr:  -.-  To add to your _hentai _yaoi manga collection, I suppose?  

Kuro:  Ye-NO!  I WOULD NEVER DO THAT!  HOW DARE YOU ACCUSE ME OF SOMETHING SO SICK!!  *Goku/Vejita doujinshi falls out of his back pocket*  ^.^()  Ah hah…_I CAN EXPLAIN!  _

Martyr:  You had these people waiting for over a WHOLE MONTH!  

Kuro: Hey, that's nothing compared to the wait from _November _to the beginning of _January!   _

Martyr:  WHY YOU LITTLE- YOU KNOW WHY IT TOOK SO LONG!! *goes to strangle Kuro*

Kuro:  Ah ah ah…if you kill me, then you won't be getting any more ideaaaaaaaaaas, Martyr-dono, that you will not.  

Martyr: *twitch, twitch* Bastard.  *looks at Kuro's other back pocket*  ^.^  That should suffice for me not being able to kill you!  *grabs the manga from his back pocket* MINE!!!  *runs off*  

Kuro:  O.O  NOOOOOOO!  NOT MY KURAMA/HIEI DOUJINSHI!  GET BACK HERE YOU BITCH!!!!!  *chases*    

Martyr: *looks up from the doujinshi while seated in an Inviso-chair™©*  *sighs* What a terrible muse.  He forgot the warnings.  Lots of brutality and violence in this chappie.  And some crude descriptions.  Not meant for kiddies or any anti-violence people.  A bit of boy on boy kissy-kissy face.  Ah…well, Bakura is a bit OOC in some parts.  Like the sappy part.  And…like I said at the endnotes of the last chapter…bring ON the tissues, baby!    

+++++

            A cool breeze brushed against the _hikari_'s face.  He looked up, startled as he viewed his surroundings.  

            Ryou was standing on a sand hill, overlooking a small village.  

            "…Egypt?!"  

+++++

Ryou shivered.  It was cold in Egypt at nighttime.  And having bug guts on your socks and a semi-dry bloodstain on your shirtsleeve didn't help matters.  He squinted to try to get a better look at the village. Russet orbs widened slightly as they saw that the village was on fire.   

Once again, being the _hikari_ he was, he stumbled forwards to get to the village as fast as possible, conveniently forgetting he was on a sand dune, causing him to stumble and roll down the side.  And it was a long way down.  

Sand stung his eyes and his wounded arm.  He cried out in pain, closing his eyes to prevent tears from falling as he continued falling and sliding.  

Finally he came to a stop at the bottom in a crumpled heap.  Stars danced before his eyes as he lay on the ground, dazed.  Remembering the currently burning village nearby, he shook the dizziness away and stood, whimpering again as a bolt of pain shot down his nervous system.  

The _hikari_ stumbled forward, soon breaking into a run as he struggled to get to the village before it completely burned down.  

It wasn't too long before Ryou entered, completely winded.  His eyes widened as they took in the chaos before them.  

Many buildings were on fire, screams coming from several.  A burning person came running out of the house, it's gender indistinguishable as anything that might have identified it as male or female had been burned away.  The person was screaming as they ran down the street.    

A woman was being beaten by a man, who appeared to be a soldier from his attire, within an inch of her life.  He was currently punching her in her swollen stomach.  The woman was with child, it seemed.  Or, had been, as the new life that had only just begun to stir was put to an end by the soldier's merciless beating.  She was screaming and crying, muslin dress half torn, revealing one of her breasts, which had a long gash running across its width.  

Ryou ran towards the woman to help her.  

"Stop it!  Leave her alone!" he shouted.  His protests were unheard, he realized, as he went right _through _the soldier and to the other side. 

More chaos greeting him.  

Another man, this one a civilian, was being beaten up by several soldiers.  The man was on the ground, curled up in a broken heap as the soldiers kicked him.  A crack was heard, and the man cried out. Several of his ribs had been broken.  

Ryou tried again to get the soldiers' attention, him yelling for them to leave the man alone, but it was futile.  He was like a ghost here.   

Screams were resonating through the air as the soldiers attacked villagers.  Ryou ran past the man being beaten, tears streaming down his cheeks as he tried to stop such animalistic brutality.  

A child was screaming for his mother, tears streaming down his cheeks as a soldier approached him, soon setting to beating the shit out of the boy with the hilt of his sword. 

The _hikari_ ran past the child, ignoring the stitch in his side.  Ryou's eyes widened as he saw something horrible that was obscuring his path.  

Another soldier was raping a crying girl, one who had barely started her teenage years.  Her dress was in tatters, barely covering anything on her bloody body.  Tears streamed down her dirty cheeks as the soldier pounded mercilessly into her, slapping and punching her occasionally, yelling at her in ancient Egyptian to shut up.  

Ryou squeezed his eyes shut and covered his ears as he screamed, tears coming down in continuous rivulets.  He was witnessing the most horrible things man could ever do to one another, and was entirely helpless to do _anything _about it.  

_'How-how could people be so…HORRIBLE?!'_  

 "STOP IT!  ALL OF YOU JUST STOP IT!" Ryou sobbed.  Again…his protests were to no avail.  Not a one of them heard the teen.  

Something white caught his eye then.  The teen gasped as he saw a white-haired child dart down a darkened alley.  No one else had seen the boy, it seemed.  Ryou followed the child, stopping in his tracks as the young boy turned slowly.  

Tears were streaming down his cheeks.  Blood stained the front of his tunic, and matted some of his short, white hair to his head.  A gash directly underneath his right eye*N* bled freely, the crimson liquid mingling with salty tears that were surely stinging the wound.  

The child's brown eyes were wide with fright; his breath coming in short gasps.  Gulping, he covered his mouth with two small dark tan hands while he looked on, terrified, as a black-haired woman was dragged past.  

The woman was kicking and biting at the three soldiers that were pulling her past.  She screamed something about her son.

 "This is the last one we need.  Ninety-nine people, no more, no less," one of the soldiers said before slapping the woman across the cheek and shouting at her to stop struggling.  

The white-haired boy growled, quickly clamping his hands back over his mouth and shrinking farther back into the shadows, afraid of being caught.  

The second soldier smirked and said something to the other two.  They stopped directly in front of the alley.  The woman tried to kick away the men, only to be slapped again.  She cried out and went silent.  The third soldier grinned and pulled out his sword, hitting her in the stomach with it.  

The woman fell to the ground, sobbing and trembling.  The soldiers let her go, proceeding to strip her then and there, taking turns raping her.  The whimpering child squeezed his eyes shut as the woman screamed.  His hands were balled into fists as tears continued down in a steady trail.  

"Mother…" he whimpered.  Ryou's eyes watered over.  He walked forward to comfort the child. His right hand was outstretched, trying to reach the boy when everything froze. The scene dissolved before his eyes like an old filmstrip.           

*  *  * 

            Bakura gritted his teeth and growled as he raced down the corridor.  

            _'Damn it, where IS he?!' _  He had just felt something else through the link that could only sustain emotions right now.  Terror, anguish, pain.  Something bad was happening to his _yadounushi _right now.  He had to find Ryou…and _fast.  _  

            The _yami_ stopped as he heard growling.  

            "Man Eaters?" He turned around.  Several of the bugs had turned the corridor, immediately recognizing him as their master.  Bakura let out a sigh of relief.  

            _"_Have you seen _yadounushi _in here?" he asked.  They nodded, making clicks and growls in their own language.  

            "Where is he?" the former tomb robber pressed.  

            "We didn't know it was _yadounushi_, so we tries to eats him, Master," one said.  

            "_YOU WHAT?!" _  The bugs stepped back a bit, all cowering at Bakura's fury.  

            "We were hungry.  So hungry, Master.  It's been long time since Master feds us," another Man Eater quivered.  Bakura's left eye twitched.  

            "Gah…NEVER MIND THAT!  DO YOU KNOW WHERE HE IS?!"  More clicks and growls.  

            "Yes.  We knows where he is.  He hided in the Pharaoh's Tomb, Master.  We remembered that Master would be displeased if we entered, so we left him alone," the first one answered.  Bakura glared at the Man Eaters, his temper flaring.  

            "After I've found him, _completely uninjured_, I will deal with you.  Until then, GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!" he shouted, taking off down the corridor he remembered last taking to enter that room.  Hopefully the room hadn't been switched around.  It had been a while, at least during Battle City that he had last been in it.  

            *  *  * 

The scene had dissolved, leaving Ryou in the darkness for a moment, until the sky reappeared, the edges of the dark violet night sky tinged with pink.  The _hikari_ looked around, seeing that he was still in the frightful village.  But…the screaming had stopped.  Fire crackled slowly, only two or three of the buildings from earlier still ablaze.  

A child was curled up in a ball, hugging his knees tightly as he sobbed in the middle of the bloodied street.  

_'He's the same child from before.' _ 

"_Why? _Mother, _why _did they d-do that?  W-why did they make you dirty a-and t-take you away from m-me?!" the white-haired boy sobbed.  Ryou's heart felt it would break.  Tears stumbled from his brown orbs.  The child hiccupped, his own russet eyes peering over his knees at the blood that tainted the village around him.  To the left of the boy was a hand print streaking across a building; it's crimson stain marking the baked dirt.  

"_Bastards_," the child hissed.  His watery brown orbs were staring into space.  "My family.  Everyone_…dead._"  He stood up suddenly.  It must have been a bit too fast, as the young boy stumbled slightly.  

"I'll find out who did this, Mother.  I'll find out why everyone else was taken away.  Then I'll kill the person who did this!"  Silent tears were still slowly sliding down his cheeks.  The boy wiped them away with the back of his hand, slowly walking away from Ryou and disappearing into the dawn.  

The _hikari_ remained in his position, tears still falling from his eyes.  Still shaken, he was, from all that he had witnessed.  

'I'll bet that was Bakura.  No wonder why he's the way he is.  His whole family…they were taken from him.'  

"Bakura," Ryou whispered, his head bowed slightly.  He sniffled and clutched at his injured arm, which had started throbbing again.  Slowly, the _hikari_ shuffled away from the broken village, heart heavy with everything he found out about his _yami_.  

The teen had only gone several feet when something at the top of the sand dune he had fallen down before caught his eye.  

Correction…_someone_.  

Ryou was frozen in his place.  

_'No…it-it _can't _be._'  

"Bakura?" he gasped.  The _yami _jumped down the dune with an unnatural ability, slowly walking towards his _hikari _when he landed at the bottom.  Ryou broke into a run, ignoring the protests from his exhausted limbs.  

"Bakura!" he cried as he ran towards him.  "Oh thank God, I was afraid I'd be stuck in here forever!"  The former tomb robber was silent. He stopped walking and waited for Ryou to come to him.  Relief that he had found _yadounushi _was drowned out by silent fury.  

Ryou stopped in front of him, panting.  He had noticed his _yami_'s lack of a response.      

"Bakura?  Are you-are you mad?"   

SMACK.  

The sound of flesh meeting flesh echoed across the now silent desert.  Ryou's head snapped to the side.  He raised a hand to his stinging left cheek.  

Bakura looked furious.  His dark brown eyes were blazing with the emotion.  His hand was still in the air.  

"I told you to _NEVER_ enter my soul room.  EVER.  I _forbade_ you from coming in, and yet you _STILL_ went against my command.  _WHY DID YOU NOT LISTEN?!?!"  _

Tears were trekking from Ryou's eyes again, silently.  He bowed his head.  

"I-I'm sorry.  It's just that I was c-curious about wh-what was in here.  I wanted to see i-if I could find out why y-you were the-the way you w-were," he whimpered.  The teen was still trembling, even more so than before now that he was facing an angry Bakura.  

The _yami_'s eyes softened ever so slightly as he pulled his other half into his arms, holding him tightly.  

"You scared the shit out of me when I felt your fear and saw you were gone.  I-I was so…_worried_…about you.  This place…it's dangerous in here, _yadounoushi_.  Even _I _can't control it," he said.  

Ryou started crying harder, so that he was sobbing against Bakura's chest.  

"I was so s-scared.  I-" Bakura pushed him away to look at him.  He placed a finger over the teen's lips.  

"Ssh…it's okay."  He brushed a few strands of white hair out of Ryou's face.  "I'm here to do my job now."  The _yami _gently pressed his lips against the frightened teens and pulled him close again.  He deepened the kiss and slipped his tongue past Ryou's lips.  The teen moaned slightly, clutching at Bakura's bare back.  The former tomb robber's tongue roamed around the mouth he had claimed months ago, his arms winding around the boy's waist.  

Ryou's tongue seemed to come to life suddenly as his tongue mashed into his _yami_'s.  He moaned again.  

Eventually, the two had to pull apart, as they would both pass out if they hadn't.  Bakura was still holding Ryou close, his bare chest pressed against Ryou's back as he panted slightly.  

"We should leave here. It may take _days _to find the way back out again," he said.  Ryou pulled away from him to look the spirit of the Ring in the eyes.  

"Does what I saw have anything to do with why you want all the _Sennen _Items and hating Yami?" he asked.  A flicker of an unidentifiable emotion flickered across the dark brown eyes that mirrored his own.  

"Yes."  

"Oh.  I-I'm sorry."  Bakura cocked an eyebrow.  

"Why?"  he asked.  

"Well, I-I'm sorry for everything that happened to you.  No one should have to see their loved ones in such pain and not be able to do anything about it."  At this, the soft-spoken _hikari _looked down.  "It-it hurts…so much to have to go through that."  Bakura cupped his chin in his hands and raised it to look back at him.  

"Don't pity me.  What happened happened.  The only thing I can do about it is get revenge," he said.  He wiped Ryou's eyes.  "So don't do that for me, okay?"  The boy nodded.  

"You want to know why what happened to my home has anything to do with the items and that pharaoh, don't you?"  

Ryou nodded.  

"Yes," he answered weakly.    Bakura raised both hands to hold the identical _Sennen _Rings on both their chests. 

"Do you know why everyone aside from me was taken away?"  

Ryou shook his head.  An angry smirk stretched across the _yami_'s features.    

"Yami's father needed ninety-nine lives to seal away Shadow Magic into the Items.  He didn't want to sacrifice so many 'innocent' lives, so he sent two of his troops to the Village of Thieves.  This village, Keru Eruna, my _home_, it was filled with thieves.  That was how everyone made money.  Tomb robbers, pick pockets, all of them were 'criminals'.  

"Because everyone in Keru Eruna was "impure", they were taken back to the palace to be sacrificed.  

"The Items…they were made from my village…made out of my friends and family's bones, so to speak.  I was the only one left.  Ninety-nine people was the amount he needed, and coincidentally, there were one hundred people in Keru Eruna, including myself.  I would have simply been killed on sight had I not hidden," Bakura explained.  His eyes were darker than before, filled with anger and pain.  

"So that's what the soldier meant when he was talking about that woman being number ninety-nine," Ryou breathed.  He looked into Bakura's eyes.  "That woman…the last one they took…she-she was your mother, wasn't she?"  Bakura's eyes flashed again.  

"Yes.  The last person they took was my mother."  Several tears slid down Ryou's cheeks.  He rested his hand against Bakura's cheek and kissed him softly.  

"I'm so sorry…" he mumbled.  Bakura pushed him away.  

"What did I say before?  I don't need nor want any pity, especially yours.  Don't cry for me, _yadounoushi_," the former tomb robber said.  "Your tears would be wasted on an impure entity."  

"I don't think you're impure.  You…are you.  Bakura.  My _yami, _and the _yami _I love," Ryou whispered, kissing him softly again.  

Bakura grinned after he pulled away.  

"I love you too, Ryou.  Now, let's get out of this place and try to find the way out."  He frowned suddenly as he looked at Ryou's arm.  

"How is your wound?" 

"It-it's fine.  It stopped hurting a while ago," Ryou answered.  Bakura kissed his cheek and nodded.  Then he scowled.  

"After I get you out of here safe and sound, I'm going to kill those damn Man Eaters for what they did to you," he growled.  Wrapping an arm around his _hikari's _waist, Bakura looked around for the door that would surely appear soon now that the memory had ended and take them back to the corridors.  Where they would hopefully find a way out of this massive and terribly scary soul room.  

*N* = If you've read or heard of the Pharaoh's Memory Saga, which is in the manga (not in the anime as of yet…T.T .DAMN YOU TAKAHASHI-SAN!  WHY ARE YOU MAKING US WAIT SO LONG FOR BAKURA AND RYOU TO COME BACK?!) when he was alive, Bakura had three scars on his cheek.  It was two horizontal slashes (like this = ) and one slash like this / (except more diagonal).  He had short, choppy white hair too.  Anyways…I think at least ONE of those scars was from what happened to his village, Keru Eruna (or is it Kuru Eruna?  O.O), which was actually his village's name.  His village really was sacrificed to make the Items. (or so my sources say…I can't really read Japanese, so the details may be a bit fuzzy.  O.O  His name was something something something Bakura, that was what they called him, just I can't really remember what)  Which was reason why he hated Yami (because hi father was the one that sacrificed the village) and was after the Items in the first place. Well, that, and the fact that dear 'Kura-kun was a bit power hungry.  ^.^  So I figured why not dive into and put into detail what happened. Made for a nice excuse to do some angsty stuff.  ^.^      

Martyr: O.O  Ho-ly Shit.  That was the longest chapter I have _ever _written.  _EVER.  _^.^  Just think of it as a way to apologize for taking so long to update each chapter. Originally, this was going to be two chapters, but I decided to leave it like this.  

Kuro:  *still thumbing through Goku/Vejita doujinshi* *not paying attention* 

Martyr: -.-  *smacks*  _Baka_, you can jerk off to that later.  It's not polite to be rude to the readers. 

Kuro:  @.@  Ow.   .  I WASN'T GOING TO JERK OFF TO IT LATER!!!! 

Martyr:  Just shaddap and do the tankies to the reviewers, _hentai_.                                                                        

Kuro:  -.-  I didn't even WRITE the damn things.  *Grumbling* 

Martyr: Do it or you'll never see your Hiei/Kurama doujin. Ever again!  

Kuro:  NO!  -.-  Evil Bitch.  Okay, fine.  

Death T-2:  *in Martyr voice*  ^.^  Thankies.  O.o  Never would've guessed what?  O.O  Poor birdie…God help his birdy little soul.  

LazyLiza: ^.^  Tankies…o^.^o  Yeah, it should.  Just have to try to stay happy for more than twenty minutes and I'll be okay.   Look, you shall wait no longer!  The next chappie's here!  

 Death's Gift: ^.^  Again….THANKIES.  o.o  It is?  I fail to see where.  ^.^  Hope you have a great day/night/afternoon too! 

 SecretSoul:  Your welcome.  O.O  You really think so?  Lookies…I UPDATED…but not as soon as you wanted, I'm sure.  ^.^() 

Unknown:  ^.^  Once again….THANK YOU!

Kurayami Ryuu:  ^.^  Look, now I'm being quoted.  ^.^  It sounds like the manga?  O.O  ^___________^  Can I glomp you to death?   Oh yeah, I agree with you on that.  I think 4 Kids should be lined up against a wall and shot in painful places until they die.  ^.^  Very painful and messy way to go, too.  They deserve it, for trashin Yu-Gi-Oh: Duul Monsters as much as they did.  Lookies…I UPDATED!

Arch- Sorcerer Mystic:  I had you worried?  Cool.  ^.^  Thank you for the compliment.  Sometimes it pays to be meticulous with details.  ^.~  

Kuro:  -.-  There, they have been thanked.  Can I have my Hiei/Kurama doujin. Back now?  

Martyr:  Nope.  Not until I'm done with it.  *burst into tears*  GOOD GOD, I LOVE YOU GUYS!  SO MANY COMPLIMENTS!!!!  *hands each and every reviewer a Black Rose*  O.o  Does anyone have any suggestions for ways to make my work better, though?  O.O  I need to know if anything needs to be fixed!  


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